Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Trans-Galactic Tournament BETA (PS4) - "Impressions"

This morning I spent some time getting familiar with Kiz Studio's new free-to-play MOBA, "Trans-Galactic Tournament". It is currently in a BETA state, and is not yet complete. Thankfully there were no NDA (Non-Dsiclosure Agreements), or legal notices required to play, and enjoy the game though. After having played through the tutorial, and the first few "Plunderball" matches myself It became apparent to me that this game is an indie trying hard to impress on a MOBA level. By that I mean it's not as grand in scale as say, "League of Legends", or 'Smite", but does hold it's own as a competitive team oriented gaming experience nonetheless. I'd say it's a scaled down version of those types of games in some ways, but is more akin to a team based brawler. You do have your MOBA mechanics, and features, but at heart it plays more like a brawler that took a hint from the FPS genre. The modes of play which become available as you level up your character through the initially playable mode, 'Plunderball' are included within the 'Tournament (ranked)', 'Quick Match', and 'Practice' main menu listings. They take hints from FPS 'Capture the Flag', 'Domination', and 'Team Death Match' game types, respectively. In this case 'Plunderball' replaces CTF, 'Conquest' replaces DOM, and 'Annihilation' replaces TDM. Each mode is a small team endeavor with a team based objective in mind.

Like a MOBA you'll also find selectable, and purchasable heroes, and heroines of varying classes (attack, defense, support), and appearances ready to do battle on the multi-layered, but small arena style playing fields that the game's competition takes place on. These characters, which are of the quirky, comical, and kid friendly sort can be upgraded via the game's three tier training menu, and accompanying free (earnable) in-game currency. It will take some losses at first to rack up the currency needed to get your character of choice fit enough for battle, but once you do you'll begin to discover that 'Trans-Galactic' tournament is a rather fun arcade style gaming experience. The only thing that offsets said fun is the in-game alternate currency you can buy exclusives, boosts, and bundles with from the PSN store in order to make your galactic heroes, and heroines a more formidable force in the 'Trans-Galactic Tournament'. While I'm only a little way into my playthrough of the game I have yet to find a way to earn the green paid for chip currency outside of paying for it, but I imagine there might be a way to earn it through ranked play, and the associated weekly challenges that play out much like CoD's challenges. By doing certain things you will earn larger amounts of standard in-game currency, and might possibly be able to earn the green chip currency as well. I stress the word, "might".

As far as the online portion of the game goes it plays rather smoothly, and I honestly did not notice any significant lagging, although there were instances where opposing players were not taking any damage. This could be because of training upgrades though, and thus I will not chalk it off to lag just yet. I was able to score kills after unlocking the training menu, and building upon my character's strengths through it. I should probably mention that the three tier training menu only allows you to equip a certain amount of perks per training type. These training perk slots are attributed to 'Attack', 'Health', and 'Defense' based improvements related to a character's in-game performance. Characters do come in specific classes geared towards different types (Attack, Defense, Support), but with the training boost/perk system they can become more effective in ways that are different from their core class. I would strongly suggest (if you are going to get serious with the game) that you team up with friends you know to have a balanced team fit for the objectives at hand. In 'Plunderball' for example you'll want an 'attack' type character for getting the opposing team's ball, and making it back to your base with said ball. Seeing as it's a team effort you'd also need at least one 'Defense' type character, and a 'Support' character to carry your team to, and from bases safely. Death comes swiftly in the 'Trans-Galactic Tournament', and unless you are working together as a team you will lose quickly. This is not a lone wolf experience. Not in the slightest.

As it stands I can see the BETA of the game worth investing in even if it is only for a fun distraction. Keep in mind though that this is a BETA, and does not necessarily reflect what the final game will be like. It may become less "Free-to-Play", and you may eventually have to agree to some legal user terms. It's a gamble, but if you find you like the game you might stick with it to see how it turns out. I do know that the developer intends on releasing more heroes, and heroines in the future, so it'll be interesting to see if this game becomes anywhere near as popular as 'League of Legends', or 'Smite'. We shall see.

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